Minding the Gap
by honeysuckle-honeybee
Summary: The fragile relationship between Konohana and Bluebell has been single-handedly restored by a single person, the vibrant farmer, Lillian. But when disaster strikes, and the very person that has bound the towns together is in very real danger, will the two towns be able to work together to save her? Or will old wounds reopen as precious time ticks by? Dirk's POV. T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

_It had seemed as normal a night as any other one when I had drifted off to sleep. Well, drifted is a delicate way of phrasing it. In reality, it was more like I totally blacked out the second my head hit the pillow. Spending all day hiking back and forth between two villages drained all of my energy, and I slept like a rock. Nothing could wake me up. Not nuclear war, or bombs…_

_Or an earthquake._

_Apparently._

* * *

**6:00 a.m.**

"DIRK!"

"Wha-huh-wh-…" Startled, half-asleep, I struggled to sit upright in my bed. The sun was barely out, and someone was ramming on my door? That wasn't normal. Not at all. Especially since the voice was the high-pitched, uncharacteristically frantic tone of Rahi, the mayor's young son.

"This better be good." I grumbled the whole way to the door. It swung open by itself before I could even cross the floor. Rahi was on my porch, jumping up and down like a little Mexican jumping bean.

"Hurry! Hurry!" He began speaking fast, so fast and excited and jumbled that I couldn't make out half of what he was saying. I did, however, catch at least one word – "earthquake."

"What?!" At that point, I was fully awake. I grabbed my coat and my hat and ran out the door, Rahi right on my heels.

I barely made it to the main street before coming to almost a dead stop, heels screeching on the ground. My breath escaped me. Everywhere, trees were fallen. Fences were broken. Across the way, my neighbor, Kana, was trying to calm his frenzied horses, who had escaped from the stable that had partially collapsed.

"Oh no."

"It gets worse." I never thought a seven-year-old would be capable of speaking in such a grim voice. He grabbed my sleeve and pointed to the main part of town. His mom, the mayor, Ina, was waiting for him there.

We walked up, and Ina's tight-lipped, red-eyed face said enough. Behind her, all of the villagers of Konohana were gathered in a tight little beehive, buzzing and murmuring. Some were crying, others seemed almost dazed. Some were visibly angry.

They were in one of the only cleared areas in the whole square. Around them was all sorts of rubble. Gombe and Nori's crop field was entirely ruined, bits of wilted leaves and smashed fruits poking out under rows of stone and debris. The bridge between Mako's tree farm and Yun's tea house had collapsed into the river, and water was pooling up behind it, effectively cutting off the stream. Multiple buildings were damaged, fences broken, sidewalks cracked. The infrastructure of Konohana was designed to wait out our storms, like the blizzards and hurricanes that were part and parcel of farm life. Not to withstand something like this.

I hurried up to the small group of villagers. "Is everyone okay?" They nodded in unison. I did my own fast head count, making sure some of the elderly and kids were there. Yun was silently weeping on a bench, her young granddaughter handing her a cup of tea that someone had brought out. Yun's own teahouse, the one that she had built with her late husband from the ground up, was damaged severely. Gombe and Nori were quietly talking to the doctor.

"How's your house, Dirk?" Reina, a young girl with jet-black hair approached. Normally stoic and cold, her voice was thick and strained, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

_If Reina is crying, this must be worse than it seems. …Is that even possible?_

"I- I think it's okay. I mean. I didn't really get a chance to check it out, so I'm not sure…but I didn't wake up at all during the night. W-when…?"

"Around 4:00 this morning. Just a rumble. A groan, really. And then this huge, eerie cracking sound. The town hall shook, hard. Things were crashing inside and out. And then it just….stopped. As fast as it had started." She shook her head. "It's terrible. Sheng says it will take weeks to repair. Maybe multiple seasons. What are we going to do if our homes are still broken when winter comes?" It was mid-summer.

I looked off in the distance and sighed. "This is too much." The mountain range caught my eye. "Heh. Wonder if the big ol' mountain did any better than we did." And then- "Oh! Oh no. I wonder how Bluebell is doing!"

The other town lived on the opposite side of the mountain. For years, the two villages of Konohana and Bluebell had been fierce rivals, for reasons that I'm still not entirely sure of. When I got here, all I knew was that they hated each other. As the mail courier, I was required to carry letters between the two, so I tried to stay neutral. But living in Konohana, it was hard to ignore the obvious, concentrated distaste of the other town, and its people.

That was before Lillian.

Reina frowned, interrupting my train of thought. "However they're doing, I'm sure they're taking care of it. Right now, we have to take care of our own. We'll contact Bluebell later, I'm sure."

"Yeah. Yeah. You're probably right."

She looked like she was about to say something else, but suddenly, everyone was cut off by a loud, booming voice. "Listen up!" Mako shouted, standing up on a bench. He was a big, burly, tall, imposing guy, and he startled everyone into silence. Once he was sure of everyone's undivided attention, he started speaking in a normal volume.

"Everyone's checked in now. We've done a damage assessment and Sheng here-" he motioned with a swipe of his hand at the short, stocky man standing next to him "-has given us a pretty thorough idea of what he'll need to start repairs. We all have to work together to rebuild our town!"

Sheng cleared his throat. An odd man, the local blacksmith was. Liked pandas and talked too loudly. But he was good at what he did. He made tools, but he knew how to use them, as well. "We'd like to start with doing basic repairs to the homes." Most people in Konohana lived in rooms that were attached to their businesses. "Once everyone has a stable roof over their heads, we'll begin repairing bridges and sidewalks." He tapped his fingers together. "If we work together, and if I have enough supplies, and perhaps a bit of help from Eileen, the carpenter from Bluebell, I may be able to complete sufficient repairs by autumn so we will not be suffering in the winter."

Mako spoke again. "That means we're all going to have to go to the mountain to gather supplies." A ripple ran through the crowd; most people did not like venturing up into the peaks, except to attend cooking festivals from time to time. Many were weary of the wild animals and multiple cliffs. Reina and I cast sideways glances at each other. Both of us were frequent travelers in the mountains; she collected rocks there, and I passed through on my way to Bluebell every day.

Knowing this, he locked eyes with us. "Reina, Dirk. You know these mountains better than any of us. Can you help?"

We nodded in unison.

"Great. I'd like to go ahead and start looking at the mountain. If you guys can come with me, to tell me where I can find valuable supplies, we'll do a damage report and start scouting. Okay?"

An hour later, equipped with a hammer and a backpack full of food, water, and first-aid supplies, the three of us trekked up into the mountain.

* * *

**12:00 p.m.**

"Found some more lumber over here." I lugged some of the branches over into a pile. There were tons of little treasure troves within the mountains, some I had never even seen before. Not only was there stone and wood and scrap metal to be found, but there was leaves of mint, chamomile, and things like mushrooms and flowers, as well. They were hidden away, probably by the wild animals, in places like logs and cracks in the mountain walls.

"This is great," Mako said, nodding approvingly. "We'll carry this all back and Sheng can get started!"

There were obstacles to overcome in the mountain, to be sure. The bridge connecting the middle part of our mountain range was unstable, so we had to climb down and cross the river by stepping stones, instead. We also had to cross unconnected peaks by things like ziplines. Finally, we were close to the peak.

The sun was high in the sky at that point. "Whew," Mako said, wiping sweat off of his thick brow with the back of a hand. "This is hard work. How about we go up to the peak and have some of that food before moving on?"

Reina and I quickly agreed. There was a marked difference between walking from town to town, or collecting stones, and doing hard physical labor. We were tired.

"This way," I said, motioning.

And turned back around just in time to just barely miss taking a step into a gigantic crevice.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

I jumped back, falling hard on my backside. Reina gasped. Mako's face went ashen.

The peak of the mountain was split in two. A gigantic crack, maybe twenty-five feet wide, separated the Konohana side of the mountain from the Bluebell side.

"Oh…" Reina stuttered. "Oh my."

"This changes things," Mako said bluntly. We squinted into the crevice. Hundreds of yards down, there was a big pile of rubble on the mountain floor. There was a tunnel down there, one that had been blocked off for ages, one that nobody had used in forever. Now maybe nobody ever would.

When we looked back up, we could see figures approaching, fast, on the other side. Bluebell villagers were running up.

"Hey! Hey, be careful!" I screamed, jumping up and down to get their attention. "There's a big crack! We don't know how stable-"

They slowed down once they reached the crevice. There were six of them. I recognized Ash, Cam, Grady, Laney, Eileen, and, bringing up the rear, a panting Rutger, the elderly mayor. They had the same visceral reaction that we had experienced when they saw the damage to our mountain. Laney looked like she would be physically ill.

"How are you guys doing?" Mako called.

"We're fine!" Ash yelled back. "Everyone over there okay?"

"Shaken up, but okay. No pun intended."

"Is Lillian doing alright?"

Silence.

The three of us looked slowly at each other. "She's not with you?" The farmer lived in Bluebell.

The six of them froze. "No. We thought she was with you." Lillian ran over to Konohana every day to tend to the open crop field that we had.

"Oh, Goddess."

The small exclamation came from Eileen, whose face we could see the color drain from, even from far away.

"She's in the tunnel."


	2. Chapter 2

**3:00 p.m.**

As the hours ticked by, more and more of the villagers had trickled up the mountain. Reina had ran back to Konohana, and a similar messenger had returned to Bluebell to relay the news:

Lillian is missing.

Lillian might be stuck in the tunnel.

Lillian's life may be in danger.

I had struggled to ward off shock for the last few hours. Each time new people from the towns came up to see the damage for themselves, the same shockwave passed through the air. On the other side of the gap, Eileen and some of the men were working fervently to construct a rope bridge to connect us, at least temporarily. Some small groups had broken off to scour the mountains and towns, trying to locate our friend. Each one came out empty-handed.

The people of Bluebell had been communicating with us by sending messages tied to the foot of Lillian's pet owl, Dory. The first note we had received was a long, hastily-scrawled message from Eileen.

_Kono-_

_ Lillian and I have been working for a few seasons on rebuilding the tunnel under the mountain. We've made quite a bit of progress. But it's not stable. The supports were weak._

_ Last week, she and I finally broke through to Konohana. I told her to stay out of it until I could get in and reinforce it. Even then, it was probably still dangerous. But you know how she is. It's much faster to pass through the mountain than to go over it. She would be in a hurry to water her crops._

_ No one over here has seen her since midnight. _

_ We think she left for Konohana early this morning. _

_ We found a lit lantern in the entrance of our side of the cave earlier today._

_ If she's not with you, and she's not with us, and she's not on the mountain, she has to be in there. I cannot think of another possible explanation._

_ I can probably get her out if she is._

_ But I'll need help. _

_ And there's not a lot of time._

_ The tunnel doesn't have oxygen pumps. _

_ Or water._

_ If she's in there…it's bad. It's very bad._

_ -Eileen_

Ina was one of the first responders. We showed her the note, and her face tightened. "How dare they!" She sputtered. "This is not their mountain to carve up as they please! It belongs to both of us, and we should have been at least consulted! And it wasn't even _safe_? No one thought to close it off? What if one of the children had wandered inside? This is carelessness! And now Lillian is in danger! Typical Bluebell!"

"Now, now," Ayame, the doctor, soothed. "Ina, getting worked up about this is not going to help. Not right now. We need to stay calm and figure out what we're going to do."

Ina took a deep breath. "Yes. You're right." She exhaled slowly. "Ayame. In your opinion, how much time to we have to…figure this whole mess out?"

Ayame frowned. "I don't want to cause any panic. But we don't have much time. In the best case scenario, Lillian is trapped. She probably doesn't have access to water, or copious amounts of oxygen. There's little visibility down there. She won't be able to see to get herself out."

"And so?"

"At the best…we may have three days."

Nobody even mentioned the worst-case scenario. But I'm positive that I was not the only one who thought about it.

I felt sick.

Behind me, a group of dejected villagers sat in a circle. "How are we going to get her out?" That was Kana. "If we go in there after her, we're going to get stuck, too!"

"We can't just leave her!" Reina yelled. "She'll die in there!"

"I don't want to leave her there! I like her, too, just as much as anybody else here! But I'm trying to be realistic. We don't have the means to just go running into a collapsed tunnel! If we hit a bad beam or cause another crash, we might hurt more than help! She might already be seriously injured, Reina!"

"What else are we going to do?" Hiro had his head in his hands. "We have to do something…we have to. We need her. You know that."

Ying, the youngest child in the village, started crying.

Nori picked her up and held her close. "One thing is for sure," she scolded, "And that is that arguing will get us nowhere. It will do nothing to help Lillian."

I sat on the ground with the others. "We can't do it by ourselves. That's the plain and simple truth. We're going to have to work together. And not just as a town. We're going to have to get the others to help. The Bluebells."

Everyone exchanged glances.

Even if Konohana and Bluebell were not on rival terms anymore, it was not as if everyone was exactly friendly with each other. Most villagers never even left their own village. The thought of communication and cooperation with the Bluebells was hard to fathom.

"They're not that bad." I was the only one who communicated regularly with everybody. I kind of had to. I carried everybody's letters. "In fact, they're actually pretty handy. Especially Eileen. I don't think we can do this without her help."

"Eileen's the one that got us into this mess," someone muttered.

"Playing the blame game isn't going to help anybody," Ayame said from a distance. "Nori is right. Arguing will just make everybody angry. Anger can come later. Action needs to come now. Lillian needs us. She deserves our help! And our undivided attention!"

"She's right."

Everyone paused. I couldn't stop the still frames of the pretty farmer girl flashing in my head, like a slow-motion picture show, like a dream that had soured.

* * *

Lillian had moved to Bluebell three years prior. She had enthralled everyone. She had a magnetic personality, the kind that made you stop and smile when you saw her. She was a breath of fresh air, and everybody liked her, even those with a sworn grudge against those who lived in Bluebell.

Besides, Lillian spent a good amount of time in our town, as well. She tended to her animals over in Bluebell, and then ran over to Konohana every single day, rain or shine, to care for her crops. She was an excellent farmer. If she had been allowed to compete in our crop competitions, she would have undoubtedly won. That earned her plenty of respect.

Her pleasant disposition and her winning attitude made it easy to like her, and she also did many favors for the people of the town. It wasn't long before most of the villagers had accepted her as not only an important part of our small farming community, but as a friend, as well.

One of the major aspects of the fuel that fed the rivalry's fire was our weekly cooking contest. Bluebell and Konohana were fiercely competitive and wanted to win each time. When Lillian started competing, though, something changed. It stopped being a conquest and started being fun. Lillian smiled even when she lost. She never left without congratulating the winning team. She laughed, and smiled, and oohed and ahhed at the pretty plates of food that were presented.

The mayors went from screaming at each other every week to calming down a bit, and then chuckling, and then even going so far as to encourage the other teams to do their best.

It was almost as easy as that.

Of all people, Lillian was trapped. The one person that absolutely everyone liked, that everyone _loved._

* * *

"I hope she's okay." Hiro looked troubled.

"Lillian is strong and smart. She can take care of herself until help comes," Reina huffed.

"Unless-"

"Kana, shut up!"

We all glared at one another. Ayame groaned and rolled her eyes. "Kids," she grumbled.

Suddenly, Dory landed in the middle of our circle. The owl cooed a bit and cocked her head at me. I detached the message that was tied around her ankle.

Kono –

_Rope bridge done. Should be stable enough. We're going to throw it over to you now._

_Blue_

"Throw it…? That gap is too big! It'll never make it!"

We looked up to see Eileen motioning wildly. She and Ash were holding up the bridge. We all did a double take- some of the wild birds were helping them hold it up! Eileen and Ash let go, and the birds began flapping their wings. Dory flew back, and helped the small, struggling sparrows. They crossed the gap, with the bridge slowly moving behind them.

"Don't just stand there! Grab it!" Someone yelled, and we all got to our feet and grabbed for the ends. "Quick, somebody find spokes!"

Sheng hammered the ends of the ropes into the ground and tethered them. "That should hold," he said gruffly.

The bridge looked perilously fragile. Slats of wood were bound by thick pieces of rope. There were lengths of rope at waist-level to hold onto while one crossed the crevice.

"This looks like fun," I sighed. "So…who's first?"

Needless to say, no one really jumped at the opportunity.

As it turns out, no one had to. The Bluebells started crossing over, Eileen, obviously confident in the quality of her handiwork, leading the way. Ash and Cam, the young men from Bluebell, followed. Ash's face was grim, Cam's was flat. Both had been crying. Slowly, more of the villagers came over to the Konohana side, and before long, everybody was united on our side of the crevice. This was the first time in centuries that every single villager from each town was together at one time. For what seemed like a long time, everyone just stared at each other.

Eileen broke the silence. "So, I kinda sorta have a plan," she said, clearing her throat. "But I'm going to need some help."

She laid out blueprints, meticulously drawn maps of the tunnel and its underground mine. She pointed to a section somewhere in the middle. "Judging by the collapse, and from what we can see from our side of the tunnel, she's probably right around here. I think the main collapse is blocking our side. From what I can see, it's going to be best to approach the collapse from Konohana. But I'd like to take a look to see if I'm right."

She looked over at Sheng. "We're going to have to just kind of take it a little bit at a time. Clear out rubble. You know."

Sheng nodded. "How can you be sure it won't fall further on us?"

"I"ll reinforce as I go. As stable as I can make it without wasting too much time. From here on out, it's a matter of life and death. We need to move fast to get her out."

Ayame piped in. "Three days. At most, Eileen. This is very serious."

Eileen looked slightly annoyed. "I'm aware. I'm going to need your help. All able-bodied people, all hands on deck. The more, the merrier. And all of those clichés. Any volunteers?"

Hands went up everywhere. Mine shot up before she even finished the sentence. Even the kids wanted to help.

Eileen nodded. "Okay. Great." She looked at Sheng. "I'll need your help, and your tools, too." He obliged.

* * *

**5:00 p.m.**

In the next few minutes, we were split into two groups. Eileen was leading Ash, Laney, Howard, Mako, Enrique, and me. Sheng was leading Grady, Cam, Raul, Diego, Ina, and Kana.

Ayame and Hiro were supervising; they were in charge of taking care of any wounds, preventing exhaustion or heat stroke, things like that.

Everyone else was doing what they could to help. Georgia and Cheryl, girls from Bluebell, were going to take care of the villagers' livestock while they worked. Jessica would watch out for the children over there, and would prepare food for the workers with Rutger and Rose's help. Over in Konohana, the kids, Rahi and Ying, would water the crops, and Yun, Gombe, and Nori would prepare food.

Reina would be going along with the teams as an advisor. As a scientist who regularly the rocks of the mountain, she would be able to identify abnormalities in the rock faces, and hopefully point out pockets of potentially noxious gases.

Teams would be working alongside each other during the day, and then in shifts at nighttime. Eileen was budgeting enough time to move throughout the cave and reinforce it at the same time, with enough time allotted to save Lillian. She had rigged a quick pulley system, attaching a bucket to a rope and feeding it into the mouth of the cave. The villagers outside could put food and water and supplies into the bucket and someone on the other side would pull it in.

Daylight was fading fast. Eileen handed out helmets with light fixtures attached to the digging teams. "Everybody ready?"

With an affirmative nod from everyone, we trekked into the cave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Day One**

**11:00 p.m.**

The first night's dig was fruitless and disappointing.

The only people in the tunnel who knew how to use the tools we had were Eileen and Sheng. The rest of us fumbled, dropped the heavy metal on our booted feet, swung half-heartedly, barely cracked any rocks. Most of us didn't escape without at least a few blisters on our hands.

At some point in the night, when visibility had decreased dramatically, and we were staggering around, exhausted, Eileen sighed and leaned against the wall.

"I think I could go for some coffee right now," she puffed, wiping her forehead with a kerchief. She looked around, scanning the faces of her scraggly band of excavators. "Alright, guys. I know you're tired. But we can't waste any hours, not even at night. So what we're gonna do is take turns. Sheng's team has already taken a break, and now they're going to work for a few more hours. I'm going to stay here with them. You guys go rest up. Be back at 5:00 a.m. We're gonna bust this puppy down."

One by one, we took our helmets off and dropped them off at Eileen's feet. She put them in a pile. "See you guys in a little while." She handed us a lantern to help us see as we maneuvered back to the entrance of the cave.

Laney was the first to speak, shattering the silence that was almost palpable, reverberating off of the thick dirt walls. "Well. This really sucks." Ash, striding next to her with his hands stuck deep in his pockets, kicked a rock hard in response.

Howard sighed. Of all of us, he was probably the biggest, physically, but he was really just a big puppy dog. He had stamina, but not enough to carry all of us. Mako was more lithe and swift than he was powerful; he spent most of his days scaling his trees and gathering fruit, not swinging around tools and lugging around heavy things. The rest of us were physically quite short, not too strong, and definitely not used to mining or any part of what we had to do now.

We all felt that there was more we could be doing. We all were disappointed that we just couldn't do it.

Laney cast a sideways glance at me. "Rough night, huh." I nodded. She was surprisingly tough, for a girl. Out there crushing rocks with her dad, and everybody else. Then again, neither she nor Howard was exactly typical. I guess that was why I liked them so much. Their café was one of my favorite stops on my mail route.

But all of us could only be tough for so long. Just six hours of this and we were all so tired.

Outside, the others had set up tents for us. We could go back to our houses if we wanted to, but almost no one did. A mixed sense of community and fear lingered in the air. No one really liked camping out in the middle of the mountains, but at least you weren't sleeping alone in a bed in a house that may not even be recognizable to you anymore. Me, I could do just fine. I had learned how to adapt. This place, it hadn't been my home for my whole life. Not everyone here could say that. Their homes weren't just the places that they had happened upon. Those homes had been in their families for generations. They grew up there, raised their kids there. Going back to a literally broken home might just be devastating. Especially on top of all of this. This wonderful deck of cards that had been dealt to us.

Why am I wallowing in self-pity? I'm safe. I'm not stuck in a cave right now. I need to get over it.

Jessica, a plump, friendly-faced lady with sympathy and concern on her face, waited for us at the entrance of the cave. Her eyes immediately flicked to her son, Ash. He walked up to her and hugged her tight. Not too far away, his little sister was sleeping, using Gombe as a pillow. The old man gently pulled a blanket over the small girl. Nori, Gombe's granddaughter, was sitting next to him. When she saw the group appear, she stood up with a picnic basket in her hand and approached.

"Hello," she said. She handed each of us a plate of food. "There's a fire going not too far away, if you're cold. And there are tents set up for each of you. If you'd like to go back home, please be careful. The paths are dark and there is still rubble everywhere. It's safer to stay up here." She motioned to the middle range of the Konohana side of the mountain. We nodded and thanked her.

Jessica and Ash went to collect Cheryl. Jessica thanked Gombe for keeping an eye on her, and Ash gently scooped her up. They made their way over to the camp.

Mako and Enrique wandered off, too, murmuring between themselves.

Howard, Laney, and I decided to sit on a nearby bench to eat. I quickly chowed down; Nori's food was notoriously delicious. Howard and Laney were more hesitant.

"It's good, guys," I laughed. "Promise. Just because it's Konohana food doesn't mean it's gonna kill you."

Laney cracked a half-smile. Bluebell food was more like baked goods, because they had more animal products at their disposal. That's why Laney and Howard were so fond of their desserts. In Konohana, we had lots of vegetables, and tea. We used a lot of dressings and sauces to make our food savory, zesty and interesting. And it was delicious.

After we ate, Howard stood up. "I'm going to bed, hon," he said to Laney. He kissed her on the forehead. "See you in the morning 3"

She and I sat around for a while longer, watching the fireflies flit around. It was silent. Nori and Gombe had gone to bed not long after Jessica's family left. Everyone else was either at home or already fast asleep in the tents. Or, of course, working away in the tunnel.

"This is so surreal," Laney said after a few minutes. She laughed, a small, hyphenated sound of disbelief and buried her head in her hands. "This feels like a horrible, horrible nightmare that I should be waking up from any second. And it'll be morning, and I'll be at home, in my own bed, and not trying to save my friend from something that might have already, I don't know, _killed _her, or-"

"Laney!"

"Like you haven't thought the same thing."

"Of course I have! We all have! I think that's one of the scariest parts, you know? That none of us knows how Lillian's doing. If she's okay, if she's hurt, if she has water or air to breathe or whatever, nobody knows. And that's what's going to cause panic. We have to stay calm. The only way that we're going to get through this is if we assume that she's safe, for now, and that all we have to do is dig a little to get her out. If it turns out to be a different scenario, well, we'll deal with it when we get to that."

She took a shaky breath. "Since when are you such a voice of reason?" She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, a trembling smile playing on her lips. "You're right. Of course you're right. I just…I really want this to be over."

"We all do. It will be. Really soon." I put an arm around her. "It's gonna be okay. Go get some rest, okay? We have work to do tomorrow." She nodded.

"See you at 5." She chuckled softly, and with a wave good-bye, headed off to her tent.

I waited for a while longer. I guess I ended up waiting too long, in fact, because before I knew it, my eyes were shutting, and then everything was black.

* * *

**Day Two**

**2:00 a.m.**

"Ex-cuuuuuuse me!"

It was the second morning that I had been awakened by somebody else's shrill, demanding voice. As a dude who lived by himself in a bachelor pad, it was extremely disorienting to wake up at the sound of a female's voice.

Throw in the fact that it was the middle of the night, in the woods, and the chick who was yelling had pink hair, and that's a great equation for an incredibly confused Dirk.

"What are you doing here?" She glared at me.

"Um. Sleeping. I think." I struggled to sit up.

"What's _happened _here?" She waved her arms around at the mountain, at the debris scattered around.

"…an earthquake…?" I was so thrown. "Wait, who even are you?"

"Un-_believable! _I leave for one night, _one night, _and suddenly the whole place is a mess and there's some strange boy lying around in _my _forest? Inexcusable!" She flounced around, muttering quickly under her breath and occasionally casting nasty glances my way. She scooped up wild items, like mushrooms, and started back up the mountain.

"Wait!" I yelled. "Where are you going? Come back!" Even though the small part of me that was actually tuned into reality was extremely confused, I knew it probably wasn't a good idea for this weird girl to walk back up the mountain by herself.

She turned. "What do you want? I'm going home! I have potions to make!"

"Potions…?"

She huffed. "Yes. Potions. Alchemy. Or," she wiggled her fingers dramatically, "_Ma-a-a-gic._ Now if you'll ex-_cuuuuse _me…"

"Wait!" I was fully awake now. "Wait! You're an alchemist?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't I just say that?" She shook her head. "I am the Oracle. I live in the mountains, and I make potions. There. That's all you need to know. Now, goodbye."

As she turned, something clicked in my head. "Wait! I'm sorry, I just – have you made any potions for Lillian?"

She spun around. Something twinkled in her eye. "Oh, yes, of course! Lillian is fantastic, she is practically my partner! She gathers ingredients for me all the time. Why, just the other day she brought me enough to make three Night Potions _and _two stamina boosters!"

"What are those used for?" I said urgently.

"Well…Stamina boosters are used for the obvious. Gives you more energy. Like a coffee on steroids." She smirked. "Night potions, on the other hand, increase visibility. It's not like there are streetlights around here, after all. Especially not in those caves. It's so hard to see down there. Lillian has been mining recently and she uses them quite often."

My eyes flew open. A million thoughts ran through my brain, each screaming to be heard. I did what I also do when I can't exactly decide what to say: I started babbling. "Wait, so Lillian has those potions? Maybe she can see! Did you give her anything that might help her breathe? Or heal any injuries? Could you make some more potions for us? Oh, Goddess, we might be able to get her out after all. Everybody in the tunnel right now is probably so tired! They need stamina! This could be such a big help! Can you help us?"

The Oracle frowned. "Slow down, boy-o. What are you talking about? Where's Lillian?"

"She's trapped in the tunnel."

The Oracle gasped. "What? When did that happen?"

"Yesterday morning. We've been working for hours trying to get her out!"

"Well, you certainly weren't," she said scornfully, looking me up and down. "Snoozing on the job, eh? Do you know how dangerous that tunnel can be? She could be injured and you're _sleeping_!-"

I cut her off. "Yeah yeah whatever okay the point is do you have anything that could help us? Please! I'm- I mean, we're desperate!"

She turned around. I held my breath.

After what seemed like forever, she slowly turned to face me again. In that time, she seemed to have aged 100 years – not in physical appearance, though by that point I had guessed that she was much older than she looked – but in body language, facial expression. She looked tired.

"I will help," she said. "Not for you, and not for your town. Your petty arguments have disrupted me for hundreds of years. I care about Lillian, and so I will make potions to get her out. But in return, I will also need some assistance. I need ingredients."

"Yeah, sure, what do you need? What can you give us to help? Can you get her out right now?"

The Oracle shook her head somewhat sadly. "No, nothing like that. I can only make potions that affect an individual person. I can't bring down a mountain or anything like that." She thought carefully. "What I can do for you is make potions that will help your visibility and your stamina. How many of you are there?"

I counted quickly on my fingers. "Um…fourteen, I believe."

She exhaled. "Okay. That's a lot. Here, I'm going to give you a list of ingredients. Have everybody who's not actively digging right this second gather these items. Bring them to me, and I will make your potions." She scribbled on a scratch piece of paper.

"Where do I go to find you?"

"I cannot make potions without my alchemy pot. My house is in the mid-range side of the mountain that faces Bluebell, in the back corner. Find me there." And with that, she disappeared.

I hesitated, wondering if I should run after her, if I should call out, if I should go get help.

Or maybe if I should have Ayame make sure I hadn't hit my head or something.

Was that real? Or just a hallucination? Three measly hours of sleep might be messing with my mind.

Still, I decided to bring it up with Ina. If anyone would know what to do, she would.

* * *

**Day Two**

**3:00 a.m.**

Ina studied the piece of paper carefully. She folded it up and put it in the pocket of her kimono. "Thank you, Dirk. I'll tell the others when they wake up. They should all have these ingredients somewhere."

"So it's real?" I asked. "The Oracle, I mean? She's legit?"

"If you're asking if the Oracle is a real person with real powers, then yes. She's lived here for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. The unspoken agreement is that she leaves us alone if we pay her that same respect. And we always have. But now, everybody needs to come together, and I guess that doesn't exclude her."

I jumped, excited. "This is so great! This is going to help so much!"

Ina frowned. "Don't get too worked up, Dirk," she warned. "Alchemy is not a surefire practice. And even if it were, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done on our part."

"Well, I know that. But…just being able to see…and if Lillian still has them, then maybe it's helping her keep calm! Or maybe heal her!"

She sighed. "Dirk, we would be very lucky if Lillian is even conscious right now. Maybe it's better if she isn't."

I froze. "W-what? Why would you say that?"

"Don't get me wrong. I want her to have as few injuries as possible, just like you. But if she's unconscious, she's not scared. She's not in pain. If she's unconscious, she won't start to panic, and she won't hyperventilate, using up her precious air. If she's unconscious, her body will go into a shut-down mode, keeping her alive but not using as many resources, such as water, as it would if she was awake. She'll be, in a sense, hibernating."

"…" I didn't know how to respond. I guess it made sense. It still seemed very strange.

"We can still use the potions to help us out. To help us get to her faster. But there is little that we can do to help Lillian right now. So focus on your part, your effort, and before you know it, she'll be home."

My head dropped. "You're right."

She sighed. "It'll be alright. I'm going to go back to digging now. You go get some rest. Your team isn't called back until 5. When Sheng's team goes to bed, I will get the villagers on duty and start collecting ingredients. As Sheng's team starts to wake back up, we'll pull Eileen's team out of the cave and have everybody meet up to hand out potions. That should carry us through the rest of the day. For now, just try to relax." She forced a sympathetic smile, and disappeared back into the mine.

I tried to heed her advice. I even crawled into my own tent, trying to get comfortable. But the next two hours ticked by, sleep evading me, and every second was like an eternity. All I could think about was Lillian. I nodded off here and there, distorted memories playing in my head.

* * *

_"Hi, Dirk!"_

"_Oh. Hey, Lil. How's it going?"_

"_Great! I brought you something. Close your eyes!"_

_"Okay…wh-what is it? It's moving! Lillian!"_

"_Okay, open now." _

"_Ha. A beetle. Very funny."_

"_I know how much you like them. Hehe."_

"_I'll have to send it back home to Kevin. He'll love it."_

_"Kevin, from your old town?"_

"_Yeah. He's a little troublemaker, but he's my buddy. I bet he's getting big now."_

"_Aw. That's sweet."_

_"You know, you remind me of someone else who lives there. A hardworking farmer. Everyone likes her. Especially my brother."_

_"Ooooh, a crush, huh? How cute."_

"_Something like that. They got married a few years ago. The summer before I left home, actually."_

"_Oh, wow. Sister-in-law. That must be fun."_

"_Yeah. Except not really. The three's-a-crowd rule totally applies."_

"_Oh."_

"_Oh well. I needed a change. And now I'm here."_

"_And I'm very glad for that, you know. You're one of the only friends I have here. At least, one of the only friends who doesn't hate the rest of my friends. It's really hard being a bridge between broken towns, sometimes."_

"_You're doing a great job, though."_

"_Thanks. You, too. Oh, but hey, I have to go. Lots of crops to water and all. We need to meet up somewhere, somewhere that's not this dusty old mountain sometime. Okay?"  
_

"_Ha. Sure thing."_

"_See you later, Dirk."_

"_Bye, Lil."_

* * *

After two hours of this feverish half-sleep, Laney shook my shoulder. "Let's go, team," she whispered. "Up-and-at-'em."

Not feeling rested at all, she, Howard, Mako, Ash, Enrique, Eileen and I stood at the entrance of the cave, facing down all the rocks that were still left to be crumbled.

"Let's get this over with."


	4. Chapter 4

**Day Two**

**7:00 a.m.**

The second day started out better than the one before. Some of the shock had started to wear off, and we were getting the hang of the tools and the rhythm of our work. Howard even hummed as he smashed rocks, one after the other, in his own little world.

Eileen, who hadn't slept more than an hour or two at a time and who was visibly exhausted, even cracked a smile.

It seemed like everyone's spirits were lifting, if only marginally. And we were making some progress. Between the sound of crumbling rubble, and Eileen's hoarsely shouted orders, conversations started up. Laney and I were quietly wondering if, possibly, we would even be able to get this job done by the time night fell.

Around 9:00, a bell rang sharply, once, twice, a third time. That was the signal to come to the surface. Our small group, disheveled and sweaty, met up with Sheng's rag-tag team of diggers, and together we flocked to the mouth of the cave. Laney instantly glued herself to Cam's side, and he smiled at her. Raul, Diego, and Enrique, the triplets, fell into stride and started chatting away. Ash and Ina were talking quietly amongst themselves.

Jessica met us at the surface once again. She nodded at her son and Ina, and then motioned behind her to the line of villagers. Everyone had a bundle of ingredients in their hands – crops, mushrooms, some cooked foods.

"We worked together to make the food!" Cheryl cheered, grinning over at Ying and Rahi. The darker-haired kids returned shy smiles.

Nori and Jessica helped us put all of the items in one large basket. "Now, what?"

I frowned. "Well…she – The Oracle, that is – said that we have to bring it over to her. At her house."

"Well, where is that?" Ina's brow furrowed.

I pointed. "Back over by the Bluebell side. Tucked away in the back corner. I've seen it before. But we're gonna have to cross the bridge." The makeshift rope bridge hadn't been fortified since Eileen set it up, and everyone was too scared of it to cross back over to Bluebell once they had made the initial trip over. It swayed perilously at the slightest wind.

Needless to say, there were a few worried glances exchanged.

"I'll take it over," Ash volunteered. Jessica's eyebrows shot up.

"Um…Ash…"

"Aw, come on, mom… It's not like it's any more dangerous than it was when we crossed the first time. And it's not like it's any more dangerous than the mine!"

Jessica hesitated, obviously conflicted. In that moment, I made a decision for myself.

"Don't worry about it, Ash. I've got it. I know where her house is, anyway, and I'm the one who talked to her. I know these mountains better than anyone else. It only makes sense." I swallowed hard.

"Dirk, are you sure?" Ina asked, eyes piercing.

I nodded. "Yeah. No big deal."

Jessica handed me the basket. "Good luck," she said, with hints of relief in her smile. The basket was heavy; there were tons of plates of food and containers of wild ingredients stuffed in. I struggled to hoist it up over my shoulder.

"Okay. I'll be back in a little while." I started to walk off when I heard someone calling after me, footsteps padding up behind. Laney touched my shoulder.

"I'll go with you."

Howard frowned. "Sweetheart…"

She waved him off. "It's fine," she said. "Dirk shouldn't have to go by himself. And it won't take long." She looked her father square in the eye. "Or is it a job for big strong men, and the little weak girl should stay here and wait?" Knowing that her father wouldn't challenge that, she nodded her head and smiled. "Okay. So I'll be back soon, all right, daddy?" With that, she turned back to me, grinned triumphantly, and started walking.

"Um. Laney. Laney, wait!" It was a struggle to chase after her with the basket banging against my shoulder, but I managed to catch up somehow. "Laney, I can do it by myself. Really. I appreciate the offer, but seriously-"

"Dirk. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. I'm just going to tag along, okay? After what happened to Lillian, I don't think anyone should be walking around by themselves out here."

"Laney-"

"Dirk!" She cut me off. "If you haven't noticed, I'm the only girl in there, in that mine with everybody else, slamming away at those rocks. Besides Eileen and Ina. Do you see Nori or Reina or Georgia in there? No. And that's fine. They'd rather stay at home and make food or whatever, and that's great! That's what they want to do. I don't want to sit around and wait. And, well, I'd rather stick with you, anyway." She exhaled sharply. "Dad's driving me crazy, hovering over me like some porcelain doll. I'd hang out with Cam, but…he's a little...caught up." She muttered something under her breath; I only caught a snippet, something like "his precious Lillian."

"Look, Dirk. You're the only sane one there. And right now, I need a little sanity, or I'm going to crack under this pressure. So please don't send me back."

I sighed. "Okay. Okay. But be careful."

* * *

**Day Two**

**10:00 a.m.**

The bridge was even more intimidating up close. The hurried assembly had left quite a bit to be desired, especially in contrast to the sturdy wooden-and-stone bridges that we were so used to, particularly in Konohana.

"Okay. It's not so bad," I lied, trying to cover up a gulp as I eyed the fraying ends of the braided rope. Laney looked pale. I tried to shoot her a reassuring smile. "We'll just go really fast, okay?" She nodded.

"Okay. I'll go first." I gathered my courage and resolved not to look down, and took a small step onto the wooden slats of the rope bridge. It creaked and groaned, but it held my weight.

The basket felt heavier than ever, and I was hyper-aware of its weight as I practically tip-toed my way across. I held my breath and locked my eyes on a focal point, straight ahead. Before long, I was tripping over grass. I exhaled sharply, relieved.

"It's not so bad!" I called over. "Just…don't look down!" She nodded, and took her first step across.

"Just look at me," I coached. "It's okay." The further she got, the more scared she looked. Her blonde ponytail fluttered in front of her face, and she pushed it out of the way distractedly.

The second her hand left the rope guide, it happened.

For whatever reason, maybe pressure in a place that was just wrong, the wooden slat beneath her foot cracked. In slow motion, I watched her foot sink out of sight. She shrieked, half in fear, half in pain, and grasped blindly for something to hold onto. "Dirk!"

"Hang on!" The fragile ropes couldn't hold her weight, at least not for long. I took half a second to shout for help at the top of my lungs, praying that someone heard me. And then, before I could talk myself out of it, I dashed back out onto the bridge.

"Grab my hand!" I ordered, bracing myself. She did, and I pulled her up. Her bare ankle scraped against the splintered wood as it pulled out of the hole, and she cried out. With our combined weight, every second that we spent on that bridge could mean a free-fall down to that collapsed mine. Adrenaline took over, and somehow I managed to drag her back over to the Bluebell side of the mountain, gently laying her down next to the basket on the grass. She was crying.

"My ankle," she gasped. It was swollen, an angry red, and looked injured.

"Can you move it?"

She tried, and gasped. "No." More tears slid from her eyes. "Dirk, you have to go get help, okay? Maybe that Oracle lady. Maybe she can make something for me."

"I can't leave you alone!" I protested. "Not in the mountains, injured, by yourself!"

She shook her head. "This is exactly why I didn't want you to go by yourself, you know. What if you had fallen through?" She took a deep breath and put on a brave face. "You go. You have to get help. I'll be okay. Maybe someone heard you yell, and they'll be here soon. We're wasting time, though!" She tried to glare at me through her tears. "Go! Seriously!"

I looked over my shoulder, and back to the girl on the ground. My conscience was tugging at two different sides of me. Now there were two girls in danger, two injured people with no way to get out and get home, and I couldn't help but feel that this time, it was my fault.

I groaned. "Oh, goddess. Okay. I'm sorry, Laney. I'm so sorry. I'm going to get help. And I'll be right back. Okay? I promise! I won't be gone long!"

"Go!" she shouted.

I took off in a run, basket slamming against my side, some invisible clock ticking away seconds in my head.

_Hurry. Hurry. Hurry._

_ I'll be back, Laney._

_ Lillian._

_ Stay safe._


End file.
